Haitian Women in Mizak

The last few weeks have been an interesting study in women in Haiti for me. I have not yet comprised my words all together to fully understand the depths of what it means to be a woman in Haiti. Heck I don’t even think I would have the words to tell you what it means to be a woman in the United States. A series of things have happened and I feel the need to share a few of these observations with you. A few weeks ago Lee and I started working on a project to start 2 small creative women’s groups from the Creole literacy class; one of the classes for writing and one for visual arts.

First we brought the ladies together for a meeting to talk to them about what we were going to do. We had chosen some of the more advanced students from both the 1st year Literacy students and the 2nd year Literacy students. We shared our information but this also became an opportunity to share what the literacy classes have meant to them.

“People think we have no value because we cannot read or write.”

“We are looked down on and disrespected in the market because we never went to school.”

“A friend of ours went to a church in Jacmel and a rich sophisticated women gave her a religious book to share with her about her faith. The women cried all the way up the mountain because she felt less then this other lady – she could not read the book she gave her.”

“But now we are stronger.”

“People look at us differently.”

It was powerful to hear these stories. The next week we met to introduce the class a bit to them and introduce our selves and share a bit more about ourselves. We had them share their name and what makes them unique. Something struck me as the women were sharing. I could tell who the first year students and who were the second year students. The first year students couldn’t wait to stand up and share about themselves. You could see in their faces and body language how proud they are and their confidence level. It was…

In our English class last week we had a few visitors for Drew University. They shared some English with our 2nd and 3rd year students then they shared some of the reasons they are in the community. They were here to talk about violence against women in the community. They asked the question if people saw that here. A couple men answered not really, it’s more in the city, and others agreed. We had 3 women in class that day and one shared about how a woman was beat on the way to the well. Some of the guys laughed as the woman was talking and it was also contagious laughter. When asked why he laughed he tried to say it was just the way she told the story not about the woman being beat. But you could tell there it was uncomfortable to talk about with the men and the women.

The next day one of Drew University’s professors let the discussion with women of the community to share and talk about violence against women in the community. The women talked and shared many stories. Many things they have observed and experienced in this community in Mizak of violence against women. Finally one of the women said there are just too many stories to tell you them all. The women also shared about how they celebrated International Women’s Day. At the end of telling the stories they shared a song they had wrote about women standing together.

The women in Haiti continue to amaze me with their perseverance and strength and love.

Women of Mizak

The last few weeks have been an interesting study in women in Haiti for me. I have not yet comprised my words all together to fully understand the depths of what it means to be a woman in Haiti. Heck I don’t even think I would have the words to tell you what it means to be a woman in the United States. A series of things have happened and I feel the need to share a few of these observations with you. A few weeks ago Lee and I started working on a project to start 2 small creative women’s groups from the Creole literacy class; one of the classes for writing and one for visual arts.


First we brought the ladies together for a meeting to talk to them about what we were going to do. We had chosen some of the more advanced students from both the 1st year Literacy students and the 2nd year Literacy students. We shared our information but this also became an opportunity to share what the literacy classes have meant to them.

“People think we have no value because we cannot read or write.”

“We are looked down on and disrespected in the market because we never went to school.”

“A friend of ours went to a church in Jacmel and a rich sophisticated women gave her a religious book to share with her about her faith. The women cried all the way up the mountain because she felt less then this other lady – she could not read the book she gave her.”

“But now we are stronger.”

“People look at us differently.”

It was powerful to hear these stories. The next week we met to introduce the class a bit to them and introduce our selves and share a bit more about ourselves. We had them share their name and what makes them unique. Something struck me as the women were sharing. I could tell who the first year students and who were the second year students. The first year students couldn’t wait to stand up and share about themselves. You could see in their faces and body language how proud they are and their confidence level. It was…

In our English class last week we had a few visitors for Drew University. They shared some English with our 2nd and 3rd year students then they shared some of the reasons they are in the community. They were here to talk about violence against women in the community. They asked the question if people saw that here. A couple men answered not really, it’s more in the city, and others agreed. We had 3 women in class that day and one shared about how a woman was beat on the way to the well. Some of the guys laughed as the woman was talking and it was also contagious laughter. When asked why he laughed he tried to say it was just the way she told the story not about the woman being beat. But you could tell there it was uncomfortable to talk about with the men and the women.

The next day one of Drew University’s professors let the discussion with women of the community to share and talk about violence against women in the community. The women talked and shared many stories. Many things they have observed and experienced in this community in Mizak of violence against women. Finally one of the women said there are just too many stories to tell you them all. The women also shared about how they celebrated International Women’s Day. At the end of telling the stories they shared a song they had wrote about women standing together.

The women in Haiti continue to amaze me with their perseverance and strength and

Scared and thinking differently

I read of on a friend of mine’s Facebook status one day in passing. “Do something every day that scares you.” He was talking about how he had been fighting cancer and the scariness of that. Having that fear of not knowing if he had tomorrow taught him to appreciate what he had more. But after he was in remission, he realized it was this really this sense of fear that taught him to live more fully.

This idea runs through my head often as I live in Haiti; especially when I am flying down the mountains on a motorcycle. Every time it scares me I am always thinking what if a large truck meets us on the road or the rocks or slick and so on. Lately I have diving into teaching. I never imagined myself as a teacher; I never had any intentions of being a teacher. But I am working in Education here; Education is what people need to change their futures. I have observed many times the various classroom dynamics here. I have watched teachers both at our Primary School and our English teachers with Living Media. The teaching process in Haiti is memorization. The teacher puts the words on the board and the students copy them down. Then they memorize, the same with their lesson books they sit and read the books like a chant memorizing every word. It is definitely a different style to learning then I am used to. But it works, but does not necessarily promote creative thinking.

Lee and I were discussing this one time and came up with the perfect analogy. It is like when we put the desks together at the school and the children helped. Brent Olson showed them how to put one together and it was like the kids had logged it into memory how to do it. They put together the others very fast and Brent even thought faster then they put them together in the States. They watched it once and had it. I have heard many people say this about Haitians – It is amazing how fast they learn something. They watched us and then they did it. But I think if you just set those pieces of wood in front of them I am not sure they could have guessed how to put them together. However if you showed an American how to do it, I think it would take longer to pick up. It would have for me at least a couple times of working with someone else and then I could probably learn it. However, if you left the desk there for an American to figure out – eventually they would get it and put creative thinking to use to assemble it. I remember this same illustration when I came to Haiti with the Solar Oven Partners. It took me several, several times of showing me how to put these ovens together. But my Haitian brothers and sisters they would watch someone do it – and then they had it.

Often times correcting me in the way I was putting it together. It is just different styles of learning.

Anyway – what does this have to do with fear? I want to figure out how to teach my Haitian students more effectively. And I realized that scares me this idea of trying to figure out how to teach and, also wanting to give some of the teachers some tools to also interject some creativity and critical thinking. Almost every day I have been ‘breaking the rules’ I have put my students in a circle in the classroom instead of rows. And the day we did numbers I didn’t even write anything on the board – we just practiced saying the numbers with each other. The student themselves look fearful at this thought of ‘changing the rules’ of learning. But after awhile I see them having fun and learning and enjoying. Without a little fear I am not sure you can continue to grow – so challenge yourself. Step out and scare yourself a little or maybe even a lot.

Spaghetti is for Breakfast!

Lately I have not been inspired to write. I am not so sure why exactly. I did start to think that one reason is seeing so many teams come down and watching them experiences ‘my world’ and the Haitian culture. There are so many mixed reactions from people who come. One of our devotions this week talked about judgment. We don’t normally mean to judge and yet we all do it. Because we grew up a certain way, our families did it This way; Americans do it This way, etc. We all come with biases on ‘the way’ something should be done. This is neither good nor bad but just a fact. The way we act on those ideas is what really matters. There are many, many things that are different from life in the United States and any other country; there are communities and cultures in the USA that are very different from each other. We need to be constantly challenging ourselves on what is the ‘right way’ to do something; there are many different ways.


Recently Lee came over to eat dinner at my house and I was really excited because I had figured out (with Gabriel’s help) how to make chicken alfredo. As we were eating Lee made a comment about ‘why is it Haitians think this is a breakfast food – its dinner’. Spaghetti with very little sauce and maybe a little cut up salami is a breakfast food in Haiti; which I have grown to love for breakfast. And I don’t know who said it first but we both thought wait who in the United States decided it wasn’t a breakfast food. It is just all about our perspective. It is just different, neither is wrong. In Haiti spaghetti is a breakfast food and in the United States it is a dinner meal. Why? Just because.

(picture of Lee and Sony eating Eggplant Parmesan a year ago for dinner - but it fit the story)

Too often we as Americans think we have all the answers. And I find myself often humbled and amazed by individuals from other cultures. I am inspired by my Haitian brothers and sisters on a regular basis. It is also a beautiful thing to watch mission teams unfold and discover this for themselves throughout a week trip. They come to ‘serve the least of these’ and soon they realize we are God’s children and equals. We are all living our lives and want the best for our families and loved ones, we just go about it a little different and we have different circumstances to work within our lives. We can learn from each other more ways to live in this world together.

‘Just like me’ You want a brighter future.

‘Just like me’ You feel pain and struggles in your life.

‘Just like me’ you have joy in your life.

‘Just like me’ you cry.

‘Just like me’ you want to be loved by others.

‘Just like me’ you are loved.

– You can fill in any ending to these thoughts that you want, this is just what came to my mind. But it is especially for people you don’t understand, don’t like, or may even be enemies of yours.

(Thanks to Joe for the ‘just like me’ prayer idea and this AmaZiNg team that is here right now from Iowa, Michigan, Texas, and England, hangin with a South Dakotan in Haiti that inspired me and helped me see things in a new way - what a combination - I am blessed.)

Learning from our Brothers and Sisters.

One day at my mother’s church in South Dakota , I teared up just a little bit. It was because two women coming down from the offertory were holding hands. Now some may think that is odd or probably would not even have noticed, but it reminded me of Haiti. When I first experienced this connection of hand holding in Haiti I was walking to the market with the pastor’s teenage daughter. She grabbed hold of my hand as we walked. I was of course thinking it was strange but also felt the connection and felt loved by her instantly. The next time was after I had been in Haiti for some time already. I remember two friends of mine, two guys holding hands as the group walked. One of the Americans asked me if they were gay. I laughed a little and said no, they are just good friends. Many Haitians hold hands as they walk just to have that connection to one another. This is what I saw that morning with those two ladies holding hands. It brought joy to my heart because I could see their love for each other.

After I had come back from Haiti I would have to be touching the person I was sitting with or maybe even hold their hand during church. Because we do have this physical connection in Haiti of holding hands with your friends or every time you come and great a group of people you shake their hand or kiss their cheek. I think we can learn from this. Have that connection with the people you love. Reach out and grab that hand of your friend, show your love for them. Don’t be afraid to look silly or have someone question you. You should always show love it’s what we are connected on this earth to do. Love is always something to be joyous about and not questioned.

Why should I have to see my neighbors underwear in the morning?

This morning I came out early to put clothes out on the line. The lady that washes my clothes came yesterday but it rained the afternoon, so she and I had put all the clothes in a big basin to sit for morning. After putting out all the clothes I went to the kitchen where Eugenie had already made coffee and offered me a cup. I then sat on my future porch and enjoyed my coffee. I was thinking about how sweet and wonderful the mornings are here. You wake to the chickens and a glimpse of sunlight peaking through the curtains. As I sat people started to pass by for water with a friendly Bonjou as they pass by. Then I see my ‘brothers’ that live next door bringing back water in 5 gallon buckets from the well with one of our other neighbors. He set down his water and greeted me too, with no shirt on and his shorts falling down his backside showing his underwear. I sat here and under my breath as he turned around I said in English ‘pull your pants up’. Shortly after, I was distracted by a motorcycle with a few friends stopping by the house too. This all happened before my cup of coffee was finished.

This got me thinking about how close the community is and how you do see all your neighbors all the time. This must have been the way they talk about it used to be when people lived outside on their porches during the summer, you knew your neighbors and you chatted regularly. How does this affect our society? I think I enjoy it, I think it is healthy and a beautiful thing to have a connection with so many people throughout your day. However, sometimes I do think about my cup of coffee in the states. Alone in my house I would brew up a pot of coffee and sit down and watch the news and look at what was going on in the world. Actually maybe things haven’t changed that much. Maybe that is why we have to watch our morning news we need that connection with people. There are defiantly good and bad points to both situations and I think they are just different one isn’t better than the other. One thing I do know we need people in our lives and I am pretty sure life is a whole lot better with coffee too!

Christmas in Haiti and Big Stone City, South Dakota

This past Christmas the Tabor United Methodist Church, Sunday School class (where my mother is a pastor in Big Stone City, SD) decided to do an alternative Christmas gift exchange. My mother called me with options for giving some gifts in Haiti. With Living Media International (LMI) we have 2 Kids Clubs groups that we work with. The first was started in LaVoute because there was little being done for the children in that area and there was a need. Living Media has sponsors for that group to help with giving the kids a small snack and activities for the club each week. The second group was actually developed by local young adults in the area; they saw a need for activities in the community and decided to start doing something at the local school. They call the group CCEM – Children’s Cultural Club of Mizak. They were searching out different funding options in the area and asked LMI for help.

I shared with my mother about CCEM and said it would be amazing whatever the church could do for the group. It is also close so I could share and be involved in the process to share with the church. The Tabor UMC, decided instead of getting gifts for the kids or the teachers they would just give money to be used for Christmas gifts for children in Haiti. I think the general church also got inspired by what the kids were doing and donated some money to the project too. When I was back in the states I shared more about the group and about the kids in the area, the church ended up raising a little over $200.

When I returned to Haiti, I was ready to shop for the kids in Jacmel, for their Christmas Party. I thought it wouldn’t be that difficult to find small toys for the kids; maybe some coloring books and colors and soccer balls and jump ropes. I was wrong which saddened me. Jacmel is a good size city – maybe the size of Sioux Falls, SD or bigger and you can’t find kid’s toys! It is because there is not that great of a demand, I was told you could find more in PaP. Feeding, and clothing your children and education is more important than giving them toys to play with, this is a sad reality of Haiti.

We decided to buy soccer balls and other bounce-y balls for the group as a whole. Then we bought little sacks for each child to stuff with cookies, candies, and colors (these were bought by previous teams in Haiti). We also had jump ropes to give them too. The rest of the money will be used to buy materials to use for weekly activities throughout the year. The kids had a great party with lots of activities, music, dancing, and theater, as well as a small meal. They were very happy about all the gifts and couldn’t wait to play with the soccer balls.

It was great to see this whole thing transpire and be involved in all parts of it. Children in any country have amazing energy and life. It was beautiful to see the children in Big Stone City, SD involved in international missions at such a young age. They are so inquisitive and want to be a part of something that will make a difference for tomorrow. The kids in Haiti also wanted to give gifts back to the kids in the U.S., so they made bracelets to send back to the states for the kids in SD.